Bustier Dresses, Bar Jackets, and Shoes on Silk at Christian Dior
Raf Simons’ second ready-to-wear collection for Dior combines the house’s classic, hourglass Bar jacket and coat-dress tailoring, with a whimsical take on décor: shoe illustrations and ladylike portraits done by Andy Warhol in the late 1950s, pre-Pop. As a commercial illustrator, Warhol liked his shoes long, pointy-toed, and embellished. Simons puts them on stiff handbags and pochettes like stylish trophies. Using the drawings as stencils for embroidery and screen prints on silk sheaths, Simons breaks up the formality of embellishment that is so typical at the big French houses. Other new Simons flourishes include a curved hem skirt, which seems to curl around the legs like a flower, bustier dresses for all occasions, pairing the Bar jacket with baggy trousers, and a welcome Bar jacket peacoat.
